Apple has made clear its ambition of taking over the living room. Now Amazon is looking for a seat on the couch.
Amazon, the giant online retailer that recently launched a digital video downloading service that competes with Apple’s iTunes, is in discussions with TiVo about creating a feature that would allow users to automatically transfer online movie purchases to their TiVo set-top boxes, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.
The deal, if completed, could be a key step toward bridging the gap between the home computer and the television set.
Apple, meanwhile, recently said it developed a device called “iTV,” which will wirelessly transmit content from someone’s home computer to the TV.
That device will be available beginning in the first quarter of 2007.
A couple weeks ago Amazon announced its new service, called Amazon Unbox, will offer television shows, movies and other videos.
Amazon’s announcement came a few days before Apple’s splashy presentation announcing a deal to sell full-length films released by Disney.
Amazon, meanwhile, has deals in place with every movie studio except Disney, whose board Apple boss Steve Jobs joined earlier this year after Disney acquired the Jobs-controlled Pixar Animation Studios.
Amazon shares fell $1.90 to $30.22 in Nasdaq trading. TiVo was down 4 cents to $7.71 on the Nasdaq.